70th International Astronautical Congress (IAC), Washington D.C., United States, 21-25 October 2019. This material is declared a work of the U.S. Government and is not subject to copyright protection in the United States. IAC-19-C4-3x52522 Channel Wall Nozzle Manufacturing Technology Advancements for Liquid Rocket Engines Paul R. Gradla*, Dr. Christopher S. Protzb a NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Propulsion Systems Department, Component Technology Development/ER13, Huntsville, AL 35812,
[email protected] b NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Propulsion Systems Department, Component Technology Development/ER13, Huntsville, AL 35812,
[email protected] * Corresponding Author Abstract A regeneratively-cooled nozzle is a critical component for expansion of the hot gases to enable high temperature and performance liquid rocket engines systems. Channel wall nozzles are a design solution used across the propulsion industry as a simplified method to fabricate the nozzle structure with internal coolant passages. The scale and complexity of the channel wall nozzle (CWN) design is challenging to fabricate leading to extended lead times and higher costs. Some of these challenges include: 1) unique and high temperature materials, 2) Tight tolerances during manufacturing and assembly to contain high pressure propellants, 3) thin-walled features to maintain adequate wall temperatures, and 4) Unique manufacturing process operations and tooling. The United States (U.S.) National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) along with U.S. specialty manufacturing vendors are maturing modern fabrication techniques to reduce complexity and decrease costs associated with channel wall nozzle manufacturing technology. Additive Manufacturing (AM) is one of the key technology advancements being evaluated for channel wall nozzles.